Test Shaft 09

Test Shaft 09, codenamed "Zulu Bunsen," is the last in a group of nine Enrichment Shafts located in the salt mine above which the modern Aperture Science Enrichment Center is built.

Reaching lower than 4375 m up from the deepest parts of the mine, it is the main location of the Portal 2 chapters The Fall and The Reunion.

Test Shaft 09 can be considered as a "timeline" level, as it reveals many details about Aperture Science's background and evolution, from its establishment in the late 1940s to some time before the end of the pre-GLaDOS era, in the late 1980s, through explicit visuals and the prerecorded messages by Cave Johnson and occasionally his assistant Caroline.

Overview
As part of the Enrichment Shafts built in the immense salt mine purchased by Cave Johnson in 1944, Test Shaft 09 was used to test several experiments from the early 1950s to the late 1980s, many being described by Johnson through prerecorded interphone messages, not necessarily involving teleportation, often with ominous results, and spread through six Enrichment Spheres (the seventh apparently not used), as well as several other unseen Test Chambers:


 * In the Enrichment Spheres: Experiments with the Mobility Gels (in the Co-op Test Shaft as well) coupled with prototypes of the Handheld Portal Device, from the 50s to the 80s. Testing starts in a 50s area at the bottom of the Shaft and goes ascending in height as well as time to end up in the 80s, then finally the modern facility again. Thus during the ~35 years of building of the Shaft, each area was left as it was when built and never modernized when the next area was completed.


 * A sealed door close to the lobby claims there is another location containing Test Chambers 1-200, although it is inaccessible.

In the condemned Test Chambers near the 50s reception area:


 * Injection of praying mantis DNA to Test Subjects, turning them into Mantis Men. This test was later postponed indefinitely, to be replaced with another test: fighting an army of mantis men.
 * Firing of an invisible laser at test subjects, resulting in their blood being turned into pure gasoline.
 * The transformation of test subjects' excrement into coal.
 * Pointing a superconductor at full power at test subjects, with no particular goal in mind. Cave Johnson remarks that in this case, they're simply "throwing science at the wall and seeing what sticks", and notes that the best-case scenario is the test subject gaining superpowers, whereas the worst-case scenario is the subject growing a number of tumors, which Johnson promises to have removed.

In the Test Chambers near the 70s reception area:


 * Temporary replacement of test subjects' blood with peanut water. Cave Johnson notes that this experiment poses problems to subjects allergic to peanuts, but also states that should the test succeed, they'll have to invent a new type of Nobel Prize to award them.
 * Exposing test subjects to jet engine exhaust, with a view to reducing subjects' body water percentage from 60% (a total Johnson deems "extravagant") to around 20% or 30%.
 * Teleportation experiment which may result in test subjects being separated from their skin. Before the test, test subjects are asked to remember which skin is theirs, and should said accident happen they are promised to be sewn right back into it.
 * Unknown experiment in the icebreaker Borealis in a large drydock located near the previous Test Chambers, which made the ship disappear and reappear in an Arctic region.

On June 15, 1961, Test Shaft 09 was condemned by vitrification when it was filled with unsafe quantities of cosmic ray spallation elements, until it was reopened in the early 1970s, to be used until the late 1980s. Anyone entering the area is warned to not look at, touch, ingest or engage conversation with any substances located beyond. In the 1990s, Cave Johnson is dead, access to the Mobility Gel supply is cut off, and the Enrichment Shafts are apparently disused, the main facility above, eventually supervised by GLaDOS, being used instead for testing.

Features
What follows is a summary of Test Shaft 09's features. For the detailed layout, see below.

Access

 * The Main Lift that connects each level to the surface, that was to be used by Test Subjects. Each level appears to be isolated from the other by a couple of horizontal sliding blast doors on each side of the elevator shaft covering the area.
 * Two gargantuan hatches located at each end: the Abandonment Hatch, accessed by Chell from the "Tartarus" area at the very bottom, and the Transition Seal 02, located at the very top, leading to the modern facility and through which the Mobility Gel flow feeds into the facility.
 * An underground train network connected to the eight other Test Shafts, located at the very bottom of the Shaft series.

Reception and control complexes
Test Shaft 09 contains several complexes dedicated to office space, reception for Test Subjects, and access control to the Enrichment Spheres. These complexes can be distinguished by era: the reception complex for the Repulsion Gel spheres was completed in the early 1950s and reflects a time when Aperture (at that time marketing its products as "Aperture Science Innovators") was able to attract the best and brightest to test its exotic technologies. Instructional posters, Johnson's prerecorded messages and the awards seen in the case featured in the lobby suggest a time of pride and optimism for the company.

The complex for the Propulsion Gel spheres was completed in the early 1970s after Aperture suffered major financial and legal setbacks, as well as (according to Johnson) industry espionage by competitor Black Mesa. Offices are decorated in brown, yellow and orange paneling typical of 1970s America. Posters caution employees to notify their supervisors if they spot inspectors from any of a long list of government safety agencies. These tests were using hobos hired off the street and paid $60 per test.

The complex for the Conversion Gel spheres was completed in the early 1980s when Aperture had begun to replace its employees with robots, leaving the employees themselves to act as Test Subjects. Posters motivate human employees to accept their robotic replacements and give advice on how to deal with rogue artificial intelligences.

Enrichment Spheres
Test Shaft 09 is mostly filled with 7 Enrichment Spheres - large geodesic asbestos and steel spheres located one above the other, and containing the original chambers used by Aperture Science Innovators for tests of its Mobility Gels in conjunction with ancestors of the modern Handheld Portal Device. Each sphere typically contain two Test Chambers supported by steel pylons and connected by catwalks. Spheres also contain offices and observation rooms around their periphery. Elevators provide transport between spheres.

Most of the testing spheres and the bottom of the shaft itself contain pools of highly corrosive toxic waste. The signs warning not to fall into the waste suggest it has been there from the start.

Other Test Chambers
Experiments that did not require the space or modularity of the portal/gel tests were located in side chambers accessed by heavy doors near the '50s and '70s-era reception areas. Almost all of these chambers have been vitrified. Cave Johnson's prerecorded messages near these doors describe absurd side effects mentioned above. Of particular interest is an unsealed door leading to the drydock of the missing Borealis.

Pumping Stations
The shaft also contains three Pumping Stations codenamed Alpha, Beta, and Gamma which pump the three Mobility Gels up the shaft and into various testing chambers (each bearing the color of its related gel), suggesting that a huge reserve of Mobility Gels must be located somewhere in the salt mine, as well as the main Pump Station located at the top of Test Shaft 09 and feeding the gel pipe network into the modern Enrichment Center. These stations were taken offline when the shaft was abandoned, but are reactivated by Chell during her journey, restoring the gel flow from the lowest levels to the modern facility. The stations are in surprisingly good repair given the amount of time passed since they were last maintained. The catwalks have decayed, but the pipe system has survived with only a few broken valves and leaking flanges.

Tartaros
In the Central AI Chamber at the end of the Portal 2 chapter The Escape, Wheatley plugs GLaDOS' memory to a potato, and put her with Chell in the elevator connected to the chamber. As GLaDOS explains him who he really is and calls him a moron, he has a fit of rage, and smashes the elevator several times until it is set loose into the shaft. The next chapter, The Fall, opens as Chell and the now potato-powered GLaDOS fall into the 4375 meter-deep elevator shaft, an employee access to Test Shaft 09. During the fall, GLaDOS (now nicknamed "PotatOS") tells Chell more about Wheatley's background and how him being in charge of the facility is a catastrophe. At the end of the fall, the lowest part of the shaft appears to be destroyed and does not reach the floor; Chell and PotatOS fall onto the ground, and Chell passes out. When she wakes up, she witnesses PotatOS being pecked by a crow who quickly takes her away (while it is the same model, it is unknown if it is the same bird that attacked Wheatley earlier), and the elevator dangling at the end of the destroyed shaft up above. Chell then proceeds to an area that seems part ruined\part in construction, one of the two entrances to Test Shaft 09 to be used only by employees. Large pillars appear to support the modern facility above, and are marked with the number "09" and the name "Tartaros". In the Greek mythology, Tartaros is a large gloomy pit or abyss used as a dungeon of torment and suffering that resides beneath the underworld, and where several Titans were sent by Zeus for punishment; this is paralleled here, with Chell being sent in large gloomy abyss as a punishment from Wheatley. "09" is probably related to this particular area of the mines, since the Enrichment Shaft located nearby bears the same number. Also above these pillars there seem to be new GLaDOS-style test chambers as there are modern lighting apparatuses. Aided by her ASHPD creating portals on the portalable surfaces, Chell proceeds through the area, which is still fully powered, with ongoing fires of carcasses of Sentry Turrets. Many red cranes can also be seen; many other pillars and cranes appear to extend very far under the facility, possibly in areas bearing other numbers. The whole area seems to be uncompleted, as many scaffolds are still in place. Chell then finds herself facing a wall barring the way to the "condemned testing area" of Test Shaft 09, condemned by vitrification on June 15, 1961, with three small shut doors. There two signs indicate the current status and condemnation date of the shaft mentioned above. Many "Keep out" and "Do not enter" signs are present. Conversion Gel pipes are also seen coming from above, disappearing farther into the rock. Thanks to her portal gun, Chell easily circumvents the wall, and proceeds through a narrow path along which a pipe runs, until she reaches the Abandonment Hatch.

Abandonment Hatch
The Abandonment Hatch is a gargantuan metal hatch that seals Test Shaft 09 from that part of the facility. There the condemnation date is seen again. To open the hatch, two persons have four seconds to press the two "Hatch Reclusion Override" buttons each found in the two cabins located on the left and right of the hatch, each with a countdown outside of them. As Chell is alone, she uses her portals to push both buttons. When the hatch opens, it reveals it was hiding only a small human-size door (along with a chair and knocked-down stool), the rest of the hatch space being a mere wall, a rather (purposely) anticlimactic result. Beyond the door is a small corridor leading to another small door, itself leading to the very bottom of the proper Test Shaft 09.

1950s levels: Repulsion Gel
The Mobility Gel tested in this level era is the Repulsion Gel.

1952: Entrance Way, Lobby and Testing Lounge
The proper way to reach that part (i.e. the Test Subject way) is by arriving from the Main Lift from the surface. It will lead to the reception area (Sublevel 193), which is made of the Entrance Way, the Lobby and the Testing Lounge.

Chell however arrives directly into the shaft itself from the Abandonment Hatch (which is restricted to employees), where she can see the first two Enrichment Spheres, a sign warning not to fall into a lake of toxic waste filled with six small spheres and a destroyed "Aperture Science Innovators" metal logo that fell from above, and the building date, 1952, on a wall. While Chell proceeds, cables and debris detach from Sphere 01 amid a shower of sparks and accompanied by shaking. A catwalk then leads to another level, where three doors leading to contaminated and vitrified areas are found. The first one, breached by the collapsed ceiling, is an employee door leading to the Test Subject reception area, with breaker 135B that provides power to the latter (it bears the alphanumeric "B-09/S", used many times in the level). The second door leads to Test Chambers 1 to 200. It has a notice stating the experiment was discontinued, with the image of an Enrichment Sphere filled with cement, suggesting other spheres (maybe smaller like the ones in the water) could be located there, and that Aperture must have been running an incredible amount of other unknown experiments. The third door shows the existence of 8 other Test Shafts, as it leads to an underground train network linking them together. Near the door is also a notice with an Enrichment Sphere filled with cement, placed there for unknown reasons.

Entrance Way
Back to the reception area, the Main Lift shaft is empty and condemned, and the elevator, located several hundreds of meters above, is out of order until a undetermined date. Back then in the 1950s, Test Subjects leaving the Main Lift would reach the Entrance Way and meet a sign with on it "Aperture Science Innovators" and "Welcome to the future of tomorrow!" above, with a mountain skyline as a background, as well as a faded blue metal Aperture Science Innovators logo, the same as the one that fell into the shaft's bottom. A catwalk through the Entrance Way, carved into the rock, would lead to the Lobby and Testing Lounge. Aperture CEO Cave Johnson would greet Test Subjects with great enthusiasm, joined with his assistant Caroline, in the following prerecorded announcement, accompanied with an early rendition of the music heard in the Aperture Investment Opportunity videos and the television in Chell's chamber in the Extended Relaxation Center:

Chell arrives Cave: Welcome, gentlemen, to Aperture Science. Astronauts, war heroes, olympians - you're here because we want the best, and you are in. So: who is ready to make some science? Caroline: I am! CAVE CHUCKLES Cave: Now, you already met one another on the limo ride over, so let me introduce myself: I'm Cave Johnson. I own the place. That eager voice you heard is the lovely Caroline, my assistant. Rest assured, she has transferred your honorarium to the charitable organization of your choice. Isn't that right, Caroline? Caroline: Yes sir, Mr. Johnson! Cave: She's the backbone of this facility. Pretty as a postcard, too. Sorry, fellas. She's married... to science!

Lobby
Upon reaching the lobby, Test Subjects would be greeted by this message:

''There's a thousand tests performed every day here in our Enrichment Spheres. I can't personally oversee every one of them, so these prerecorded messages'll cover any questions you might have, and respond to any incidents that may occur in the course of your science adventure. Your test assignment will vary, depending on the manner in which you have bent the world to your will. Those of you helping us test the Repulsion Gel today, just follow the blue line on the floor. Those of you who volunteered to be injected with praying mantis DNA, I've got some good news and some bad news. Bad news is we're postponing those tests indefinitely. Good news is we've got a much better test for you: fighting an army of Mantis Men. Pick up a rifle and follow the yellow line. You'll know when the test starts.''

The message suggests a very brisk and busy era for Aperture, with a thousand tests performed every day in the Enrichment Spheres. Test Subjects would test the newly created Repulsion Gel, but also be injected mantis DNA, turning them into Mantis Men (postponed for some reason), which would also be fought by other Test Subjects as part of another test. The message asks Test Subjects sent to fighting Mantis Men to pick up a rifle and follow a yellow line, but it cannot be found anywhere, the only path being to Enrichment Sphere 01 or three unrelated Test Chambers.

The Lobby is a room with black marble and a maroon carpet on the floor, and wooden panes on the walls. Four lamps with spherical lampshades hang from the ceiling. A sign asks Test Subjects to go to the small desk nearby and sign in with the receptionist before proceeding to the Lounge. Next to the Lobby is an elongated operator room filled with several desks equipped with typewriters and phones, probably used for registering candidates.

Testing Lounge
The Testing Lounge is accessed through a folded red curtain. Its floor is fully covered with maroon carpet, and it is filled with large conformable beige armchairs, as well as several ashtrays. It also has six spherical lamps on the ceiling. Of note is the large portrait of a young and brisk Cave Johnson placed between two cases. One of the cases has been broken and emptied; the other is filled with many items giving information about Aperture's background and evolution: four trophies, including the Spirit of Idaho 1955 award for the promotion of Potato Science, by the National Potato Board; the Shower Curtain Salesman of 1943 award for Aperture Fixtures; and two "Contractor of the Year - Runner Up" awards from the US Department of Defense, dated 1952 and 1954 (an unseen 1953 award can also be found in the game files). The case also includes the main page of the newspaper The Up Pioneer Press, dated from a Thursday of January 1944, showing that Johnson purchased salt mines in Upper Michigan, where and above which the Aperture Science Enrichment Center will eventually be built, retconning the facility's location from Cleveland to Michigan.[4] Under a picture of the mine, Johnson is quoted "The Future is Here, and it's Under the Earth's Crust". Finally, four framed awards can be seen: the Best New Science Company award 1947 given to Aperture Science by the Science and Business Institute of America; another Spirit of Idaho award by the National Potato Board Award for the promotion of Potato Science, undated; the Shower Curtain Salesman of 1943 award given to Cave Johnson for Aperture Fixtures; and finally an award for rank #2 for Aperture Science in the Top 100 Applied Science Companies 1949.

After leaving the Testing Lounge to the shaft proper, Test Subjects would go to an elevator operated by an attendant. Upstairs, a catwalk, now collapsed, would lead either to the small elevator going inside Enrichment Sphere 01, Pump Station Alpha, or three condemned Test Chambers, two vitrified (one of which filled with cement), the other apparently not condemned, but inaccessible regardless. Near each door leading to these chambers is an interphone, which when powered will give the following prerecorded messages by Johnson about what tests they involve:

''If you've cut yourself at all in the course of these tests, you might have noticed that your blood is pure gasoline. That's normal. We've been shooting you with an invisible laser that's supposed to turn blood into gasoline, so all that means is, it's working.''

''If you need to go to the bathroom after this next series of tests, please let a test associate know, because in all likelihood, whatever comes out of you is going to be coal. Only temporary, so do not worry. If it persists for a week, though, start worrying and come see us, because that's not supposed to happen.''

''Just a heads up: We're gonna have a superconductor turned up full blast and pointed at you for the duration of this next test. I'll be honest, we're throwing science at the wall here to see what sticks. No idea what it'll do. Probably nothing. Best-case scenario, you might get some superpowers. Worst case, some tumors, which we'll cut out.''

These tests suggest strong recklessness from Aperture, suggesting the team doesn't really know what they are doing and instead is randomly testing.

Pump Staton Alpha
The first of the three Mobility Gel Pump Stations found in Test Shaft 09, probably also built in 1952, is used to pump Repulsion Gel. It is activated from a switch on a console in a booth located at the lowest level, with a screen showing the six spheres used in Test Shaft 09. The booth contains three motivational posters: "Know your... Allergens" ("pollen", "animal dander", "plastics", "anti-matter"), "Know your... Hazardous Materials" ("Don't touch anything unfamiliar"), and "Know your... Chemical Hazards" ("Do not inhale fumes - no matter how good they smell"). Above on a catwalk leading back to the shaft can be found a safety poster saying "Together we can make 1956 the lowest unexpected casualty annum ever!".

After powering back Pump Station Alpha, Chell portals herself near the small elevator leading to Enrichment Sphere 01 to begin her introduction to Aperture's Mobility Gels. At the entrance of the elevator is introduced an early iteration of the Material Emancipation Grill, the first of several early iterations of familiar Aperture technology that can be found in the shaft.

Before entering the elevator, Test Subjects would hear the following overenthusiastic message:

''They say great science is built on the shoulders of giants. Not here. At Aperture, we do all our science from scratch. No hand holding.''

This references the metaphor "Standing on the shoulders of giants", meaning "One who develops future intellectual pursuits by understanding the research and works created by notable thinkers of the past".